B-Theory
by vintage-misery49
Summary: Sometimes fate is funny, other times it's cruel.
1. Chapter 1

"You know you make me so happy, right Lucy?" Natsu said absentmindedly one day. He had his head resting on Lucy's lap while she was weaving her fingers through his hair.

A small but content smile crossed her face as red tinged her cheeks "Of course I do you idiot" she said as she planted a kiss on his forehead "You never shut up about."

"Well it's just cause I'm so lucky to have you" he said, giving her a wide smile he brushed his hand lightly across her cheek.

She leaned into his hand as she looked down at him with soft eyes and a smile "Sap" she said, not bothering to hide the happiness in her voice

 _That had been just less than two weeks ago, Lucy had been just so blissfully happy, with Natsu looking at her with such love in his eyes as if she was the most beautiful thing in the world. Lucy couldn't help but wonder if life shattering events always happened around times of bliss, as if to drag those people down and remind them that their human, that their mortal and completely defenseless against the world._

"Come on Natsu" Lucy said tapping her foot impatiently as she looked down the rails for the metro "The metro is going to be here any minute."

"I'm here, I'm here, don't have a fit" Natsu said as he jogged up beside her "Can't a guy go to the bathroom?"

Rolling her eyes as she held back her chuckle, she said "Sure, as long as they don't miss the metro that is going to our stop and the next one isn't another twenty minute wait!"

"They really need to have more trains going out there" Natsu said "I mean who doesn't like going to the park?"

"Well it's more like a forest then a park" Lucy said as she looked up at the sign, good the train they needed would be arriving in less than a minute "Some people don't really like bugs Natsu."

"Well that's like saying they don't like fresh air" Natsu said with a huff.

"Oh don't be such a big baby" Lucy said as she pressed a peck to his cheek "The train is going to be here any second." Just as she was finishing her sentence Lucy felt something, or someone, bump into her, hard. She felt as her body went off balance and as her body fell forward. The sound of the metro approaching grew louder in her ears as she felt herself go almost weightless.

 _Lucy could feel tears threating to overflow once again. She would have figured by now that she had cried herself dry. But just when she thought she couldn't cry anymore, the tears threatened to overflow once again. She felt numb and when she could feel like something more than just a thing floating in time she just felt cold and dark emptiness. It was the kind of emptiness that dug at your mind and soul. The kind that sucked everything out of you until you felt like nothing more than a husk._

Every part of Lucy's body screamed as she fell forward, the noise of the train seemed to drown that out as she fell forward, unable to stop herself. By the time she could even comprehend what was going on she was sure her head or arms had to be past the platform. She was on descent to the tracks below and that could not bode well.

Just as her body was telling her this was a good time to scream she felt someone grab hold of her arm and pull her back with such strength that it sent her flying back onto her butt. But Lucy knew what she had saw those next few seconds right before her life came to a screeching halt. She saw Natsu's falling backwards with his one arm outstretched and she swore he seemed to be relieved, as if seeing her sitting on the platform made him fine with falling down onto an oncoming train. Lucy still can't remember what happened, they told she had to expect that, her brain was pushing those memories down and that might be best.

But one minute Natsu was there suspended in air and the next the train had replaced him and chaos was surrounding her.

 _Having a ring on her finger felt almost wrong to her now, but she couldn't take it off. Without it she felt even more naked, even more, just, wrong. Lucy hadn't been able to take in everything that had been going on around her at the time since she'd been so overwhelmed by what she had just seen. But as days progressed more and more voices of people she didn't know intruded her mind._

 _"_ _Did you just see that?!"_

 _"_ _That man just saved a girl from falling down onto the tracks!"_

 _"_ _Yeah, but obviously at the cost of his own life."_

 _"_ _Poor girl, hope she doesn't have a guilty conscious."_

 _"_ _I think I saw them standing together before the whole thing, maybe they know each other!"_

 _"_ _That would be terrible!"_

Someone was helping her up, Lucy thought maybe they were asking her if she was alright, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the metro. Her eyes scanned everywhere asking the same question "Where is Natsu?!"

"Ma'am are you alright?" asked a man as she shook her shoulders.

"My fiancé" Lucy asked staring at the metro as it seemed that all the air in her body was leaving her "Where is he?"

"What ma'am?" the man asked, he seemed concerned but she couldn't really tell.

"My fiancé, Natsu Dragneel, I think he pulled me back onto the platform, where is he?" Lucy asked as panic invaded her voice and she could feel as fear invaded her every being as she realized what must have happened.

"I believe he must be the one that was…that is trapped under the train" the man said pausing for a short period of time before changing his response to her.

"Is he alive?" Lucy asked as she felt her body beginning to shake, what were the chances that someone who had been hit by a train going who knows how fast would be alive.

"We aren't sure ma'am, the police and fire department are on their way" the man said looking over his shoulder to look for them, he knew he couldn't be the one to handle this women who might have just lost someone.

Lucy felt her body go limp at those words. She couldn't say anything back, words failed her and her mouth didn't want to work for her, her body didn't want to work for her. The man soon left her and was replaced by a police officer, they had known Natsu. She wasn't sure how he was able to keep her from having a full down breakdown when he must have been as in shock the same as her.

 _She had always used to chastise him for being far too reckless, acting too much like a hero. He had always blamed it on his job as a police officer. Being a cop caused him to put others' lives before his, it's like he forget he had people who loved and needed him just as much as the people he was trying to help._

 _Rubbing a thumb over an old picture still in the picture frame, she had been thinking of changing it with another one but Natsu had always claimed that he had loved it far too much for her to replace it. She tried to gulp back the knot of pain that was forming in her throat as she looked down at Natsu's smiling face. She would never see that smile again, Natsu was dead._

 **2 months after the incident**

Lucy was currently standing six years in the past in a body that was six years younger as well. One minute she had been falling asleep in Natsu and her's cold apartment, though by now she supposed it was just hers now, and the next she was waking up in the old dorm room she had stayed in during her freshman year of college.

She doesn't know how she had managed not to scream or freak out in surprise. At first she had thought it was a dream, and she still wasn't so sure, but after pinching her arm a few times she figured she should've been awake already.

Just as she was stumbling out of the bed her old dorm mate, Lisanna, walked into the room. She and the girl had fallen out of touch once they had left college; really if this wasn't a dream she should try and call her when she woke up from this surreal dream.

"Hey Lucy" Lisanna said, as cheerful as Lucy could remember "You better hurry up; you might miss your first class of the second semester."

"Oh, uh, yeah" Lucy said as she rubbed her hand through her hair before pausing for a second, it was cut short, just like how it had been in her freshman year, not the long hair she had grown out since then.

"Well I see you later than" Lisanna said with a wave as she picked up her bag before leaving Lucy by herself to freak out.

Turning towards the closest mirror Lucy almost screamed, she did truly look like her freshman self. But this was a dream so of course it would make her look like her college self. Taking a deep breath she tried to find something to pull on as she tried to remember what her class was before freezing.

She was about to go to the class that she had met and befriended Natsu in, psychology. She had only taken it because she had needed another credit and it had seemed easy to her, Natsu had taken it since he thought it would help with his law enforcement plans. Was this just a dream of her memories? Or was it perhaps like one of those sci-fi movies where someone gets a second chance to re-do something? Was the world or whatever giving her a second chance to stop Natsu's death from happening?

If that was the case then Lucy was going to take it. Pulling a sweatshirt on she grabbed her bag, thank god she had been organized enough back then to pack her bag the night before, and walked out towards her class. If she remembered correctly it was in building 1A or something and it was Professor….something, she hadn't really paid too much attention to him.

She was able to find the class and pushed the door open. The first thing that caught her eye when she walked into the class was the same thing as it had been the first time, pink. Her eye was instantly drawn to the pink which belonged to Natsu of course. Lucy felt herself suck in air, while she really hoped this was dream, she also hoped it was reality. When she had first saw him she hadn't thought too much of him, he had seemed kinda like a punk, with tattoos up his arms and piercings that he would eventually ditch before becoming a police officer.

Originally she had sat next to him just because; it was nice seat not too close to the board but not too far away. This time though her brain seemed to whisper "don't sit by him." She listened and went and sat on the other side of the room. Placing her bag down she stole glances at him while a plan formulated in her head.

If she remembered anything about time travel it was not to mess with time, but surely there had to be some dimension where she and Natsu had never become friends and more. So she decided the best way to stop the events that were coming was to distance herself from Natsu as much as she could, so that's what she planned to do.

This did work for a while, the two were nothing more than classmates, complete strangers that didn't even say hello to each other in passing and while it killed Lucy to be so close to him but yet not be. But it was for his own good and so she kept on and considering how she still hadn't tripped up after a whole term she figured she would be in the clear since she and Natsu didn't ever share the same class after this due to complete opposite majors. Her engagement ring sat with the few other pieces of jewelry she had an while walking by it ever day yet not putting it on made her feel an ache in heart, she knew it was for the best

Unfortunately it didn't last long. At the second term the professor gave them a partner project where they were supposed to learn about the other and evaluate their minds or something of the sort. Lucy had remembered how she and Natsu had been partners since by then they had become friends and she had realized her growing attraction for him. This time though, much to her horror, they were paired up simply because they were the only two left without a partner.

When the professor told them they would just have to suck it up and be partners Natsu had just shrugged his shoulders before picking up his stuff and moving over to the seat next to Lucy. Plopping his stuff down he had stuck out his hand to her and had said "Name's Natsu Dragneel, guess I'm going to be learning a lot about you huh?"

Lucy had taken it tentatively and felt a shock of electricity go between them; this was going to be hard "Yeah I, um, guess. My name is Lucy Heartfilia." Natsu gave her a smile and she felt her heart squeeze, oh how she had missed that smile and how it lit up her life, this was going to be really hard.

By the end of the project they had become tentative friends, Lucy was still scared of what would happen now that he knew she existed, but it had been so hard to not befriend him when befriending him came just as easily as it had before.

So they continued on as friends through the end of freshman year and up until the halfway point of sophomore year, there were no problems. But then Lucy had been dragged to a party by Lisanna and had met up with Natsu there and a few beers led to one thing. Hell they couldn't even blame it on alcohol; they had been slightly tipsy at the most.

But when Natsu was slamming her up against his dorm room's door and slanting his lips over hers, that's what she told herself it was and when she was sliding her hands up his back to pull him closer to her that's what she blamed it on even though every single alarm was going off in her body. The euphoria was taking over her as she remembered what it was like kissing Natsu again because, god, did she miss it. It just felt so right but at the same time she couldn't get the memories out of her mind of their possible future. So she did something she had never thought she would do, she pushed Natsu away.

"We shouldn't be doing this" she panted desperately, trying to think of some reason to tell him.

"But why not?" Natsu asked, his eyes filled with confusion "I thought you were giving all the signs to liking me, I guess I just..." he trailed off as he waited for her answer.

Sucking in her breath she yelled at herself for letting her feelings getting the better of her "I'm sorry Natsu, I just want….." she paused because she knew she was about to tell a blatant lie and Natsu always seemed to know when she was lying "I just want to be friends."

"I understand" Natsu said as he unwrapped his arms from around her waist and took a few steps back.

"Yeah" Lucy said as she stared at the ground "I, um, guess I should be going."

"Yeah" she heard Natsu mumble as he stared at the ground.

Opening the door she said one final "Sorry" before walking out and closing the door behind her.

She and Natsu didn't talk for the rest of the year after that. Even though her body screamed at her to talk to him every time she saw him but she resisted and would keep walking, her eyes down. By junior year she figured that any bond between them was shattered but then Natsu was standing outside of her class one day after it had finished and had went up to her and had begged her to forgive him.

She had been at a loss of words for a second before assuring him she wasn't angry at him and that she had just thought he had been angry at her.

"Why would I ever be angry at you Lucy?" Natsu asked and Lucy felt her heart shatter at the honesty in his voice. This was going to kill her before any damn metro did. So they two of them became awkward friends again since that one night still stuck in their minds and every once in a while Natsu's action showed to be more than just platonic but it never crossed a line. Sometimes she wished he would cross the line, just so she could get one more kiss, just one more hug that seemed to envelop her.

They stayed this way until the end of college and the two went their separate ways but promised to keep in touch. As fate would have it though, they had ended up moving into the same apartment building. When Lucy saw him going into the apartment across from her she almost had heart failure and when he had saw her he'd been excited and had said the same thing that had been on her mind "Fate must want us to be together huh?" He then quickly fixed it and said he hadn't meant it romantically and she could almost believe him now, but she couldn't help but feel that maybe she hadn't been able to prevent the future.

One day Lucy came up with a random idea. She had been in her apartment with Natsu lounging next to her on the coach and was watching some random movie they had found on TV. They had quickly became comfortable around each other once again and seemed to bounce between each other's apartments when they weren't at work or sleeping.

But her idea had been to just simply not go out the day of the accident, and then if she lived through it (Natsu included) she could tell him how she felt and maybe they could fix their relationship and have it back to what it could have been. So she soon began to live towards that day, the day that would determine her entire life. That fateful day did come and unfortunately for her it came with bad news.

"Heartfilia" was the first thing she heard that morning and that was her boss calling on the weekend to ask her a favor "You know that park outside of town right? Well apparently they're having a nature appreciation event or something down there and I want you to cover it."

"Sir it's my only day off this week" Lucy said with sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair as she got up.

"I know but you don't have anything you're going to be doing anyway" he boss had said with a huff.

"You don't know that!" Lucy said feeling anger boiling in her veins, of all the day he had to call her and be an inconvenience was today of all days, she had made sure she had this day off months before.

"Heartfilia please, you were the last person I called but everyone else had something going on" her boss sighed "You're the only person left."

Sighing back at him she huffed "Fine, I'll do it." As she hung up her phone she felt her heart clench, it was looking like fate had this day picked out for either her death date or the person closest to her's.

Getting ready she figured she'd have to tell Natsu their movie marathon was off for today. Walking out of her apartment she lucky ran into him, in full uniform.

"Oh hey Lucy" Natsu said giving her a nod "Sorry I'm going to have to ask if we can reschedule that marathon. I got called in."

"It's no problem" Lucy said, waving her hand at him she added "I just called in too."

"Well are jobs are very demanding" Natsu said with a laugh before walking away.

 _That was the last thing he said to her, for the second time he had said his final words to her._

Lucy was waiting for the metro and made sure she was far behind the line, but not too far so she could at least hope to get an open seat. She had been minding her own business when she saw something out of the corner of her eye, a police officer with pink hair.

"No" she whispered as her body went cold and ridged and then if on cue she felt weight push up against her and send her flying. The roar of the train returned to her ears and she felt a moment of Déjà vu but this time hopefully this time it would end up a little different.

Once again the familiar feeling of weightless came to her and she closed her eyes as she waited for whatever death was her. But then she wasn't feeling so weightless and she was going in a different direction.

Ripping her eyes open she had once again saw the oh too familiar image in front of her, just a bit different. It seemed she still had been too close as just friends. She watched in horror as she had to watch once again the man she loved fall backwards toward the tracks as the roar of the train grew closer.

 _She had been given a second chance, and she had still managed to fail. Lucy had failed._


	2. Chapter 2

Natsu wasn't sure about a lot of things, but he was sure there was such things a fate and destiny. He believed you were put in the world to do one thing, complete your destiny through the help of fate.

Perhaps if someone other than Natsu was in the situation he had been placed in twice, now starting for the third time, they wouldn't be able to comprehend or accept what was going on. They might believe it was all one big, elaborate dream. But to Natsu it was fate bringing him back to the same moment in time to relieve it and make sure he completed his destiny, saving the person he loved most from dying on the same day at the same place.

He had come to accept it and so he spent his time waiting for that day to come. He had never once failed in saving her and he didn't plan to break that streak any time soon.

He was currently heading to the class where he would meet Lucy for the 'first time.' For once he was running late, both the first and second times he had been there before Lucy, for once he was going to be the one starting off a bit late.

Slipping into the classroom he scanned the room until he saw the one familiar face, Lucy. He swore he had seen her eyes widen when he had walked into the classroom but it seemed he must have been mistaken, she was staring at the board intensely as if whatever on it was the most important thing she had ever read. If he remembered correctly it was the class rules or whatever and the professor's name.

He picked a seat two done from her, not too close so it wouldn't look like he was a creep but enough that if he started a conversation with her it wouldn't be too weird, which he did end up doing at the end of class.

"So, this professor thinks he's all high and might apparently. Ha, I wouldn't want to be the person writing a thesis that's the opposite of his opinion" Natsu said as he got up from his seat and slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Lucy hesitated a few seconds before responding "The best word to describe him is narcissistic for sure."

"Natsu Dragneel" he said, offering out his hand "I think we have a long semester ahead of us."

Lucy took it hesitantly as she said "Lucy Heartfilia. Let's hope we can find some way to keep it interesting."

For most of the semester Natsu kept his distance. Making small talk with her occasion and joking about the professor's big ego. During the first loop the two of them had begun dating by the end of the semester. The second time though was a different story, they never had gotten together. Natsu figured it was all determined by different factors. During the second loop the two of them hadn't even begun talking until they got paired up for the project.

Natsu had wondered if there was a certain time limit or window where the two of them could get together but he wasn't going to push it if it wasn't meant to be. Sure, it hurt sometimes to look at her and remember how they had been before but he wasn't going to act unless Lucy did first.

Just like the second loop the semester passed and the two of them didn't get together, but they had become good friends who hanged out occasionally. Slowly, just like in the second loop, Natsu accepted that he and Lucy would be friends, all platonic with no romance and he could live with it. He much rather enjoyed conversations that lasted hours and movie marathons then cold stone silence and awkward glances. He could adapt to these situations so he did, to the best of his ability.

They graduated college and parted ways with the promise to meet up sometime soon. Natsu enrolled in the police academy and got a part time job as a bouncer to pay the bills until he was assigned. He found a cheap, and decent, apartment and figured he would continue on his life as normal until the fated day came.

On his third day of living in his apartment he met his new neighbor that was moving in across from him, it was Lucy. After a very confused, but excited, conversation the two found out they were indeed neighbors. It did make it easier to talk with her and to keep an eye on her until the day came that she would walk down to the metro and perhaps never come back.

The days leading up to that one moment were enjoyable, just as they had always been. The two spent a lot of time together; they even met up once a week for a movie marathon. But as much as Natsu dreaded that day and wished it wouldn't come, it approached quickly and Natsu began to prepare and just as quickly as it would be over it came.

The morning of the incident he made sure to wake up earlier to prepare, not that there was much to prepare for, his death he guessed since that was how it ended every time and then all of a sudden he would be snapped back in time to relieve this moment over and over again.

He was off duty today so at least that was good, he didn't have to worry about leaving his post to stop Lucy from falling head first into an oncoming train. Scratching his back he had figured there wasn't much to do, if he saw Lucy leaving today he would offer to accompany her and say he had planned to go to that same place.

He waited near the door that morning until he had heard Lucy's door open. Her hinges squeaked horribly whenever they were moved and Natsu wondered why he never offered to fix them for her as he got up to go open the door.

"Oh hey Lucy" Natsu said, doing his best to seem casual as if it was a coincidence he was leaving the same time as her "Where you headed?"

"Oh, hello Natsu" Lucy said, a nervous look etched on her face that he couldn't figure out, maybe she had somehow figured out he was sitting by his door "I'm headed downtown, my boss is insisting I go to this big unveiling of a new statue at the park and do an article on it complete with an interview and everything."

"Ah, that explains your journalism bag" Natsu said as he pointed down to the brown satchel she always took with her to work but never anywhere else.

Lucy looked down at her bag and back up at him before asking "My journalism bag?"

"Yeah, you only take it with you to work. Hey is this unveiling thing at Magnolia Park?" Natsu hoped it was the right park; hopefully he didn't mix up the park downtown with the one down the street.

"Um yeah, where else is there an unveiling going on?" Lucy asked, crossing her arms.

"Cool, that's where I was about to go" Natsu said.

"Really I can't believe you'd go to see a statue for someone you probably haven't heard of" Lucy said as she raised her eyebrows.

"It has a nice running trail?" Natsu offered.

"Okay fine, come on I know I'm not going to lose you" Lucy said as she headed down to the stairs "You better tell me why you're itching to go down there with me when we get back."

"Of course" Natsu said, plastering on a smile even though he knew that promise wouldn't be kept. The two walked down to the station together, managing to get down to the platform with only one minute until the metro arrived.

"I can't believe that my boss did this again" Lucy muttered under her breath as she stared down the tracks waiting for the metro to arrive.

"Did what again?" Natsu asked as he scoped out the crowd hoping for once he could see the person that always seemed to knock Lucy down into the tracks. It was the best way to try to make sure the both of them lived through this but it was beginning to look like that wouldn't happen.

The sound of the metro approaching began to fill his ears as he desperately tried to find the start of this chain. He felt his blood run cold as he saw movement from the corner of his eye.

Instinctively he reached out to grab Lucy's arm. He had seen this image too many times already, and he already knew how it was going to go.

Lucy was already going head first onto the tracks by the time he had grabbed her arm. Using all his strength he pulled her back up, and like every other time he felt himself losing his footing and his balance at this quick and forceful movement.

He and Lucy had now changed places, she was falling backwards back onto the platform and he was falling towards the tracks as he did every time. The roar of the metro approaching him seemed to be muffled in his ears, as if he was underwater.

Every time when it seemed death should occur, his vision went black and it felt like he was floating in an endless abyss, then he would suddenly be shot back all those years ago to the day he had met Lucy.

He supposed it was some sort of sick joke the universe enjoyed playing on him. He was stuck in a time loop that he couldn't leave and he supposed he was fine with it if it meant he had more time with Lucy, the time he would've lost if he had died. He had begun to accept it. So when his vision went black and the familiar feeling of floating began to fill his body he began his countdown.

"5."

"4."

"3."

"2."

"1."

Opening his eyes he was no longer in the dark, the sun was shining brightly into his eyes as he stood on campus once again. Looks like he was about to begin the fourth loop. Taking a step forward he wondered whether or not he should show up early or late this time to class, he was thinking late if it made it easier to sit next to Lucy.

Natsu fell into his steps as he headed to his fourth, first psychology class. His time up to the accident could be a close repeat of any of the other loops, or it could be slightly different, but it seemed that every loop had one thing in common; he and Lucy were never too far away from each other even if they weren't together.

He ended up walking into class a few minutes before it started. Seeing where Lucy was sitting he sat a row in front of her in the seat next to the one in front of her. He waited a few days before he made contact with her and kept it like that for the first few weeks. The occasional hello and asking about notes or homework was the only communication they had for the longest time.

But then the fateful project rolled around that they somehow always managed getting paired up with each other for it, by now Natsu had quote on quote "dissected" Lucy's mind four times. By the end of the project Natsu felt it was safe to say they could be considered friends.

Once again they were back to the tentative friends that would fill up the rest of their college years. Natsu had gotten used to his memories seeming to overlap and having trouble remember what the first loop was actually like some days. Natsu wasn't going to complain though, spending time with Lucy was enough for him, even if it was hard some days to keep it strictly platonic when he remembered what it had been like to embrace her, to kiss her, but he wasn't going to cross that line without Lucy's clear approval. He had done it once and it didn't end well, he had no desire to do something like that again.

So on carried their friendship that didn't seem to progress any further, and that was fine. For the first time Natsu decided to change it up a little and apply for a job in the field he had gotten a degree in, counseling; which was pretty much just a fancy way of saying psychology.

He ended up getting a job at hospital helping counsel patients who had been through a traumatic event or were suffering from a mental disability. It was going to be different from what he had gotten used to, but he supposed he could only be a police officer for so long before he began to get bored.

It was interesting working at the hospital and by his third week he still hadn't met Lucy at and was beginning to worry that this one little change had messed up the normal ebb of time. But just as he was beginning to worry that he had messed up he had a new neighbor move into the apartment next to him. It doesn't take much to figure out who it was.

It was nice to have one kind of normality in a life where all you did was live up to one moment before being sent back in time to relive it all over again. Spending time with Lucy was that one normality he could always seem to count on.

They seemed to bond easily through old movies, especially all of older horror ones. By now Natsu was sure he had watched Jaws more than twenty times and the Harry Potter series more than an actual Potter fan, which Lucy was.

Natsu figured he could deal with waiting for one day to happen if it meant that every Sunday they watched movies almost all day. Just as the past two times it seemed that their relationship was going to stay just friends, but one Sunday, two weeks before that fateful Saturday it changed quickly.

He wasn't sure what had brought this on; Lucy hadn't shown any signs that he could think of that showed she was attracted to him, but maybe he was out of practice or something after not focusing on anyone romantic other than Lucy for all those years.

One minute he was making some joke about the special effects the movie was using and the next Lucy had her lips pressed against his. He had been taken back to say the least.

Lucy had pulled back before he could even fully process what had just happened, her face flushed bright red. Just as she was beginning to spout apologizes Natsu cut her off with a kiss of his own, the movie they had been watching was soon forgotten.

The days leading up to the "incident", as Natsu had dubbed it, were pleasant, more than pleasant to Natsu. Proper confessions were given, they went on a total of two dates, one to a nice café and another to a play, and they were beginning to take turns spending the nights at each other's places.

The night before the incident had been normal, Natsu had made dinner for the two of them since he got off first and they watched the new episode of a TV show they had been keeping up with.

They both ended up crashing in Natsu's bed. As he was drifting off to sleep Natsu could feel a dull ache filling his stomach as what he thought would happen tomorrow. Snuggling up closer to Lucy, he pressed his face into her hair so he could smell the familiar shampoo that he associated with her. He hoped for some reason neither of them to have to leave the apartment tomorrow.

He didn't want to think of the possibility of losing her; he didn't want the reset button to start again. He wanted things to keep going, for time to move forward past that point with the two of them alive. That's all he wanted and for once he was going to do something about it, neither of them would be leaving the apartment tomorrow no matter what Natsu needed to do to make it happen. He wasn't going to keep going along with fate; he was going to create his own path for once.

He soon lulled off to sleep with his arms wrapped tight around Lucy, and he didn't plan to let go.

At one point he remembered feeling the mattress move slightly but it soon stopped and he let it slip from his mind. The reason he ended up waking up was when he realized the other side of the bed was not only empty, but cold.

Sitting up in bed he looked over to the clock and sucked in air when he saw the time, it was after nine and there was only about twenty minutes until the incident would happen. Throwing back the covers he ran into the next room looking around for Lucy, waiting to see her somewhere and feel a sense of relief, but it never came.

He found a note on the counter but he barely bothered to read once he saw the words "going out." Running back into the bedroom he threw on a pair of pants and a shirt before rushing out the door. He needed to get down to the station before it was too late; he needed to stop this, to stop it from happening.

He ran down the street towards the station, the pounding of his feet and heart filled his ears as he got closer and closer to his destination. Pushing past people as he tried to make his way to get his ticket he could feel his stomach in his throat.

By the time he had bought his ticket to the train he never had even planned to get on and had sprinted down the stairs he could hear the metro coming.

He was back to pushing through the crowd as he searched hurriedly for Lucy. By the time he had spotted her it was too late, he could see her falling forwards as the metro approached. Time seemed to stop as he tried to push through the crowd, reaching out in hopes he could somehow reach her from what felt like miles away.

Everything around him seemed to dissolve into white as he strained his way forward, trying desperately to reach her even though his brain told him he couldn't make it, he wouldn't make it.

He watched helplessly as he watched Lucy fall backwards onto the tracks as it came plowing into her body. He felt himself freeze; all thought stopped as he tried to process what he had just seen. He just watched as for the first time it was Lucy who went over the tracks and not him.

For the first time Natsu had failed and as tears ran down his cheeks, he wondered if there would be a reset button this time now that Lucy had died, would life just continue without her. He wasn't sure he would be able to if that was the case. Natsu wondered if this would forever be the climax of his entire life, how would it go now that he had been the one to fail Lucy?


	3. Chapter 3

Natsu was suddenly jolted awake. He was greeted by a sight he had seen too many times, the blank walls of his dorm room. He was still stuck in the loop; he hadn't even been able to escape it when the outcome had changed, when Lucy was the one who died.

Scrambling out of bed he checked the clock before letting out a small sigh of relief, he wasn't going to be late to class. Tugging on a shirt Natsu went over his plan in his head, there was obviously no chance of getting out of the time loop unless the act that caused the loop to happen stopped, he needed to figure out how to stop the accident from happening.

Tugging on his bag he headed out for his class, the sounds of his feet hitting the pavement kept him focused. He needed to make sure that this time neither of them went to the train station that day, and the only way of doing that would have to be telling Lucy everything. There was a chance that she wouldn't believe him, but if he waited to befriend her for the umpteenth time than maybe, just maybe, he could convince her that he was telling the truth.

All the other times before this he had held back from going down that path, telling Lucy she would possibly die in the future would probably freak her out and she'd probably also think Natsu might be a murderer plotting her death or something. So he needed to wait for her to trust him again then he could tell her everything that was going on, and maybe she would believe him.

Taking a seat right behind Lucy he half listened to the professor as he looked at the back of Lucy's head as he concocted his plan. Scribbling something down on a piece of paper, he spent the rest of the class slowly folding it up and smoothing out the creases over and over.

When the bell rang he got up quickly and plopped the note down on top of Lucy's books.

She glanced up at him with a single eyebrow raised and Natsu gave her a small smile in response before trotting out of the class.

He was halfway across the quad when she caught up to him.

"Hey Na-um, you" Lucy yelled as she ran towards him with the note gripped tightly in her hand.

When she caught up to him she waved the paper around with one hand while the other rested on her knee as she caught her breath.

"Oh hey" Natsu said, stuffing his hands into his pocket. "What's up?"

"What's up?" Lucy wheezed as she shoved the note in his face. "This is what's up pal."

"You don't like my note?" Natsu asked as he raised his brow.

"You literally just wrote on it 'coffee? 2' and then you added a winky face" Lucy said, deadpan at him as Natsu began to sweat internally.

"I put the winky face there to be playful, not flirty" Natsu said as he held a hand up trying to defend himself. "I'm looking for a study buddy for the class. I'm absolute shit at psychology. I can't get into people's heads or anything. I was hoping you might be good at it since you are sitting right in front of me."

"I see" Lucy said as she pulled the note away from his face. "I suppose I'm not too bad at the subject." Lucy seemed to be mulling over the idea before letting out a loud sigh. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a study partner in the class."

"Great" Natsu said with a little more enthusiasm then he had planned. "So see you Friday at two?"

"Which coffee house?" Lucy asked as she tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

"The coffee shop across from the laundromat, I think it's called Any Beans Necessary or something."

"Oh, okay, see you then I guess" Lucy said before turning around and heading off, giving him a wave from over her shoulder.

Letting his body relax, Natsu thanked whatever god was out there that the first phase of the plan had worked. Now he just needed to get Lucy to trust him enough so when he told her that she might die she wouldn't look at him like he had three heads.

/

"Okay, so am I supposed to show you the ink blots first or should I be asking you about any dreams you had last night?" Lucy asked as she kept her eyes down on her notebook, her eyes raking over all the requirements they had for their project is phycology. It was the one that they were always paired up together, and as usual they had been designated partners.

"Dreams first I think" Natsu said as he tapped his pencil on the table. The quaint setting of the coffee house set a relaxed mood with soft jazz playing in the background with the soft murmuring of other customers; it was a perfect place to study.

"Okay them" Lucy said as she clicked her pen open before resting her head in one hand. "What did you dream about last night?"

"I don't remember" Natsu said with a shrug before taking a sip of his coffee. That was lie, he could remember perfectly what he had dreamed about with almost every detail burned into his mind. It wasn't exactly a dream though; it was more of a memory. He had dreamed of Lucy's death again, a recurring dream he was all too familiar with.

"Oh come on Natsu" Lucy said, adding extra emphasis to his name. "We literally have to keep dream diaries for this. Just make something up if you need to, you can't just say nope didn't have a dream."

"Okay fine" Natsu said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms he pondered whether or not to actually tell her about the dream. She might think he was crazy if he told her he had a dream about her dying, but it also might plant a seed for when he actually tries to tell her what's going on. "I guess I'll tell you what my dream was."

"Thank you" Lucy said with a small nod before her face scrunched up slightly. "It's not something weird right?"

"Hey you're the one who wants to know what my dreams are" Natsu said with a shrug.

"I don't want to hear about any dreams you have that are….inappropriate" Lucy said, her nose crinkled as she looked at him as if he was going to be telling her about his wet dreams or something.

"What do you mean by inappropriate?" Natsu asked as innocently as possibly, he was going to put it off this dream show and tell as long as he could. She always had some normal dream that just meant she probably had some sort of stress, his were always a little more out there.

"You know what I mean" Lucy hissed as her face brightened.

"You wanna know what my R rated dreams are Lucy? I didn't take you for that type" Natsu said as he tried to hold back a snicker as Lucy lit up as red as a firetruck.

"I swear to god Natsu if you don't shut up I'm going to reach across this table and strangle you!" Lucy cried. "Just tell me your dream."

"Okay, okay, sorry" Natsu said before leaning forward. "Uh, well, were to start. I'm at a train station and, um." Natsu paused for a second to look over at Lucy. She was watching him intently with her pen pressed down to the paper. "There's a big commotion and a trains coming, the noise is really loud in my ear and I feel almost like I'm right by the train. But, um, someone falls onto the tracks and I'm so close to them that I try to reach out and grab them. I know I can reach them and pull them back up but then all of a sudden it's like were miles away and the train is just getting louder and louder in my head and soon it just….comes by me with the person down on the tracks." Natsu took a deep breath before looking up at Lucy who is staring at him with wide eyes.

"Do you, uh, do you know who was falling down onto the tracks?" Lucy asked, a slight tinge of fear edged into her voice.

"You're ,uh, going to find this a bit weird probably but it was you" Natsu said, averting his eyes away from her.

"Me?" Lucy asked as she pointed at herself.

"Uh yeah, so um, what does my dream mean?" Natsu asked in hopes of quickly getting off the situation, it didn't look like Lucy had taken it too well.

"I, um, I don't know" Lucy said as she stared at him. "I assume it might mean that you're worried about losing a relationship close to you, presumably yours and mine."

"Oh, okay" Natsu said with a curt nod before shifting uncomfortably his seat.

"Natsu do you perhaps-" Lucy began before abruptly cutting off.

"What?" Natsu asked, perking up slightly.

"Nothing" Lucy said quickly, shaking her head. "So, I guess it's mine turn now huh?"

"Yeah, looks like it" Natsu said as he opened up his notebook. He learned one thing from this; he wasn't going to be telling Lucy about the accident anytime soon.

/

Natsu crammed the fourth and final box into the back of his beat-up old rust bucket of a car when he heard someone come up from behind him. Turning his head over his shoulder as he slammed the trunk shut he saw it was Lucy.

"Hey Lucy" Natsu said offering her a small smile. "You about to head out?"

"Oh, um, yeah I am" Lucy said as she wrung her hands and avoided his gaze. "I just, um, I wanted to say goodbye." She looked over at him before taking a deep breath. "Goodbye."

"Oh, well, goodbye yourself" Natsu said as she shoved his hands in his pockets. "I really enjoyed being partners in phycology, you were amazing. It was almost like you've taken the class before."

Lucy let out an awkward laugh as she let her hands fall to her side. "Yeah, it was great working with you. I, um, I really enjoyed your company, even after the class ended."

"Huh, same" Natsu said, his smile softening along with his heart. He really did love this girl, he wanted nothing more than for the two of them to just live a normal life, one that didn't reset itself. "Listen" Natsu said as he rubbed the back of his neck as he took a step closer to Lucy. "Do you want to keep in contact over the summer? I might need someone to analyze my cryptic dreams or something."

Lucy covered her mouth as soft laughter escaped from her. "I would like that; you do have some weird dreams. I wouldn't want you acquire insomnia without me there to decipher your dreams."

"And, maybe, we could even meet up sometimes" Natsu said with a shrug, he really didn't know where he was going with this but he hoped whatever he was trying to do was working.

"I would really like that" Lucy said as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, a light blush dusting her face.

"G-great" Natsu said as he felt his ears heat up. "Let me get a pen."

After the two had exchanged numbers Natsu couldn't help but feel like he was floating as he looked down at the flowing numbers written carefully on his arm. It felt like he was back in the first loop all over again.

"I'll text you when I get home" Lucy said as she shifted her feet.

"Yeah, of course" Natsu said not even bothering to hide his wide smile. "I'll do the same."

Lucy was biting her lip as she watched Natsu; before he could say anything else she rushed over and placed her lips on his cheek. She pulled away almost as fast as she had gotten over to his side, her face blushing furiously.

"I'll be waiting" Lucy said before running off leaving Natsu stunned.

A shaking hand brought itself to his cheek. It felt warm under his skin, Natsu felt like he could die right then of pure happiness.

/

They had been dancing around their feelings for almost three years. After the kiss the summer after freshman year the two had avoided bringing up the topic. They pretended it didn't happen but every once in a while they slipped up, the occasional lingering touch or look that seemed to squeeze the heart.

Now as they stood in the auditorium with diplomas heavy in their hands and listening to the dean talk about how they were going to go out and change the world Natsu couldn't help but wish he was by Lucy. Unfortunately an alphabetical seating chart stood in his way. A few times he dared to look back her from the few rows back she was sitting, mostly he got a warm smile in response, one time he even got a small wave.

He needed to talk to her and all these feelings, maybe it was all in his head like it had been in a few loops before, but he couldn't help but feel that she felt the same this time.

Finally the dean finished talking and everyone had thrown up their hats and Natsu was by Lucy's side.

"Hey can you believe it! We're graduates-" Natsu began before being abruptly cut off by Lucy's finger to his mouth.

"I get that you have a lot to say Natsu but I'm going to talk first, okay?" Lucy said as she waited for Natsu's response.

Nodding his head, Natsu waited as Lucy took her finger away from his mouth before talking.

"I like you, like really really like you. I don't want to use the word love but that's pretty close to how I feel and I don't want to leave today to go off our separate ways without telling you because your important to me and I want you to be a part of my life even if we're broke and living off ramen noodles in a shitty apartment I just...I just want to be with you" Lucy said, taking a deep breath and bracing for Natsu's response after her quick explosion of feelings.

Natsu just stood there frozen for a few seconds after Lucy finished letting everything sink in. "Really?"

"Really?!" Lucy shrieked. "That's all you have to say?!"

"No, no, it's just, you like me too?" Natsu said as he pointed at himself. "Because I'm pretty sure I've been in love with you since freshman year."

"What?" Lucy squawked as her face reddened even more than it already was. "All this time?"

"Hey, you were pretty charming, well you still are and have I mentioned yet how pretty you are and how when you talk about something you love your eyes light up like stars and-"

"Oh shut up" Lucy said as she tugged Natsu's collar down so his lips met hers.

/

"Hey Lu, we've been together for a while right?" Natsu asked one night as he was resting his head on Lucy's thigh, half watching something on TV while she was worked on her book.

"Yes" Lucy answered, curiosity in her voice but not willing to actually ask what Natsu was playing at, "We've been together for almost three years now."

"And you trust me, right?" Natsu asked, looking up at her face.

"Yes of course" Lucy asked as she continued to clack away at the computer keys.

"Like really, really trust me? No matter how crazy it may sound?"

"Natsu what the hell did you do?" Lucy asked as she looked down at him, concern written all over her face.

"Remember that one dream I told you about back in freshman year during our project for phycology?"

"That's…specific, but maybe? You told me a lot of different dreams" Lucy asked as she closed her computer and pushed it off to the side.

"It was the one where you get hit by a train" Natsu said, he just stated it as plainly as he could. The date of the accident was only one month away; he needed to tell her now.

"Oh, well yes, I do remember that one" Lucy said, fidgeting slightly. "Why?"

Natsu sucked in a deep breath before continuing. "Well, it wasn't exactly a dream."

"What do you mean it wasn't-"

"It was more of a memory, from something I've seen before, many times before" Natsu said as he waited to see how Lucy would respond, she was quiet. "You see, you almost die on the exact same day, at the exact same time, and the exact same way always. Normally I die but the last time this happened you died instead. I don't know how to explain this to you without sounding crazy but I seem to be stuck in some time loop that just keeps re-doing itself over on that same date. Nothing stops, but maybe if neither of us dies it'll stop."

Lucy was staring down at Natsu with wide eyes and an open mouth. This didn't seem to be going well.

"Listen, I know I sound crazy but-"

"No, no I believe you" Lucy said quickly as her features changed.

"Really?" Natsu asked, relief flowing through him.

"Yes, because I've been experiencing the same thing" Lucy said, her voice breathless.

"Wait you knew about this whole thing?" Natsu asked as he sat up and grabbed Lucy's shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think you knew" Lucy said as tears began to well in her eyes. "You never told me either."

"I guess you do have a point."

"But still" Lucy said as she placed her hand on his arm, "We might be able to break this loop."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"No leaving the apartment at all that day, promise" Lucy said as she held out a pinkie.

"Promise" Natsu said as he linked his pinkie with hers.

/

"Can you believe my boss" Lucy said, letting out a loud huff as she fell back down onto the bed. "How long ago did I tell him that I wasn't going to be available today? I even lied and told him I'd be out of town! I swear, the universe is really hard pressed for you or me to die today."

"I take it you gave him a piece of your mind" Natsu said as he rolled over and looped his arms around Lucy.

"Oh you bet" Lucy said as nestled her head under his. "Honestly, how did he even have the nerve to call me when I know for a fact Kendall is in the office today."

"Well you are the best journalist" Natsu said, pressing a kiss into Lucy's hair.

Lucy hummed as she raked her fingers through the nape of his neck. "You're a sap."

"I know" Natsu murmured. "I lost cost of how many times you've called me one."

"At least once a day" Lucy said as she let out a sigh. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure" Natsu said as he rubbed circles onto her hips. "What's on your mind?"

"If we make it through today….can we get married?"

Time seemed to stop for a second after those words left Lucy's mouth, but Natsu was quick to recover.

"Of course" he said before leaning over enough to kiss her lightly on the mouth. "God, I've waited for our wedding day for years, or should I say loops?"

Lucy let out a small laugh before giving him a quick kiss. "I'll start looking for a dress tomorrow."

"And I'll look for a ring."

They made it through that day for the first time.

/

Lucy had almost never expected for this day to actually come, her wedding. As she sat at a table watching her friends dance she toed off her heels and felt relief for the first time that night.

Stretching out her toes and cracking her back she felt a feeling of just pure serene happiness. Her life wasn't centered around one day anymore, now she could worry about the future, she wasn't sure which one was scarier.

Looking down at the ring on her finger she felt a wide smile cross her face, she was really married to Natsu. Her name had changed to Dragneel and she knew she would forget all about the change for the next two months.

The sound of a chair being pulled next to her caught her attention. Looking over she saw Natsu plop himself down onto the chair before looking over at her with a lazy smile on his face.

"How you doing?" Natsu asked before reaching over and taking her hand in his.

"Tired, a little overwhelmed and already slightly buzzed, so not too bad" Lucy said as she rested her head on his shoulder. "How about you?"

"Very happy and past slightly buzzed" Natsu said with a chuckles. "So I'd say I'm doing pretty good."

"Can you even believe it?" Lucy asked as she squeezed Natsu's hand.

"Can I believe what?" Natsu asked as he squeezed back.

"That we're actually married" Lucy said.

"It only took what? Six loops?" Natsu asked with a soft laugh before quickly going silent.

"That sounds about right" Lucy said as she counted on her fingers. "But I'm pretty bad at math so I can't be too sure."

"We're doomed then if neither of us can count" Natsu said as he rubbed circles on Lucy's hand.

"Hey Natsu, I don't think I've said this enough during all those loops but, I love you."

Natsu was quiet for a second before pressing a kiss to her temple and whispering in her ear "Love you too."


End file.
